Neptune's Tree
by Guardian Fox
Summary: Neptune sits alone under a tree at recess, reading. It's how he's spent every recess since school started. When he finds out he was never as alone as he thought, everything starts to change. As most great things do, it begins with a head injury. (Inspired by the-end-of-eternity fanart "Friends of Soul" on DA - see cover art (with permission of artist)).


The recess bell rang each day at 10:00am. The doors to the school would open, and Neptune would always come out, snack in one hand, book in the other, and wander across the field to the lone apple tree. He would sit himself down underneath it to read. It wasn't that Neptune was anti-social. He had lots of friends, but he always liked to sit under this particular tree, and enjoy his book unbothered.

Neptune would sit under the tree, and read to it. It was his tree; he felt a strong connection to it. When he read out a funny line, he could swear he could hear the leaves rustle with laughter. When he read something sad, the branches were still and melancholy.

But today Neptune had something different: the very first edition of _X-Ray & Vav_! He'd borrowed it from Sage this morning. Even though Neptune found Sage kinda scary, when he'd seen the other boy had it, he'd immediately asked to borrow it. He'd explained that he was a fast reader, and his parents would never let him read a comic, so it was his only chance really. Sage handed the comic over to a stunned Neptune, who had squeaked his thanks then ran off, nearly bumping into Scarlet, the quiet girl who talked to no one and who no one really talked to.

Neptune could hardly contain himself as he read the comic under the tree. Of course he had to forego reading it out loud: it was a comic after all – how could he read pictures aloud?

Neptune was halfway through reading when he felt like he was being watched. He snapped his head up from the book and looked behind him, but all the other kids were busy playing in the middle of the field, or closer to the school on the monkey bars. He went back to reading, but only got another page before he felt the same sensation again. Hairs were prickling on the back of his neck. It felt like someone was very close to him, but he hadn't heard anyone approach.

"How come this book has pictures but none of your others do?"

Neptune yelped and jumped up – _the voice had come from above him_ – and promptly smacked his head into something hard, and fell back down again, clutching his head. Next to him he heard a thump as something came crashing out of the tree. Heart in his throat, he rolled away and jumped to his feet: ready to defend himself against whatever this was.

In front of him sat a faunus boy his age, with a long monkey tail that was curling in apparent pain, covered in blond fur that matched the hair on the boy's head, which he was rubbing tenderly.

"What are you so jumpy for, it was only a question!"

"Where did you come from?" Neptune gasped. He'd never seen this boy before. His wasn't a big school, and there weren't many faunus students; Neptune would have remembered if there was a monkey faunus in his class.

"The tree, idiot."

Well now Neptune was just insulted.

"I know how gravity works. How come you were in the tree? What did you mean _all of my books_? Have you been _watching_ me?"

At this the boy just shrugged, finally stopped rubbing his head, and looked up at Neptune with big, grey eyes.

"When my mom is at work, I come here. When fall started, you started showing up, and I was gonna tell you to leave, but then you were reading out loud, and the story sounded really cool, so I kept listening. I really liked that one with the stowaway and the dragon! You should bring that one again."

"How come you never talked to me before?" Where is he coming up with a calm question like that, when he is still reeling from the revelation that he has apparently been reading to this kid for _months_, and he didn't even know!

"I thought you might not come back if I told you I was here. People don't usually like it when I surprise them from a tree." He rolls his eyes at the absurdity. "But, today I had to have a look, because you weren't reading out loud. Then I saw that there were pictures so I thought I could try to get a good look – I figured I could follow along with just the pictures well enough. But then it was bothering me that you'd never had a book like this before so I had to ask. And then you freaked out, of course," he finishes with a smirk. Neptune flushes, though feels totally unjustified in doing so: it is _normal_ to jump over a disembodied voice interrupting your concentration!

"It's called a comic book: they have pictures and words, but the pictures tell the story too. And it's not my book. I borrowed it from a guy in my class. I have to give it back…" At this point he finally remembered the comic, and he looked down at his hands, dread slowly filling him.

The comic was in his hands: each of his hands. Separately. He had torn the comic in half when he'd jumped away from the boy's voice.

"I can fix that." Came that voice again. Neptune refrained from jumping this time, despite the fact that the boy is now right in front of him and he once again didn't notice him get that close.

"What? How? It's brand new and I just ruined it. Sage is going to be so mad at me!"

"No, give it to me. I can get you another one, but I need to know which one to get."

"When?"

"Tomorrow, same time, I'll be here with a brand new one."

Neptune hesitated. Sage expected the book back at the end of recess. But he couldn't give it back like this. Neptune prides himself on taking very good care of books, and he can't let Sage down or Sage won't ever trust him enough to lend him the next installment of the comic! Suddenly the bell rang, signalling the end of recess. Quickly deciding, Neptune handed over the half of the comic with the cover.

"You only need that to find the right one. If I go back without anything Sage will be suspicious."

The boy shrugged. "No problem."

"But you will have it tomorrow?"

"Yeah yeah. You better run. You're gonna be late, and I know how slow you are."

Neptune is off and running before he even knows why he listened to that boy. He's back at the door before he realizes he doesn't even know 'that boy's' name.

* * *

><p>He had explained to Sage that the comic had been better than he thought, and he'd wanted to enjoy it at home, then made a clumsy getaway before Sage could ask too many questions. Neptune was not a good liar.<p>

The next day at school Neptune waits anxiously for recess. He runs out the door as soon as the bell rings (quite fast he thinks, thank you very much) so he could avoid Sage until he has the comic book back.

The monkey faunus is waiting for him at the tree before he even gets there, with a ratty bag by his feet.

"What's the rush?" The boy laughs as Neptune puffs up to him.

"Please tell me you have the comic. I can't handle this." Neptune doesn't want to think too much about how a boy who apparently won't read for himself, but supposedly has easy access to a bunch of books even makes sense. He suspects he doesn't want to know.

"Easy!" Exclaims the boy. And he opens his bag with a flourish, revealing not one, but at least twenty comics inside.

Neptune stares, stunned. "Did you not know which one it was?" He tries to understand. The boy's face falls.

"No, look," and he reaches into the bag and pulls out volume after volume of _X-Ray & Vav_ comics.

"You said you borrowed the other one. I got one to replace it, and another one for you, as well as every other one I could find with the same title," he points to the recognizable font of the title.

Neptune is stunned silent by the boys action. The boy however takes Neptune's silence the wrong way. His tail droops in disappointment.

"I thought you'd like it. I was gonna just get the one, but you said you'd borrowed it and I thought 'what if that guy doesn't let you have the other ones?' And then I figured if I got you more, it would be me paying you back for all those times you read all the other cool stories. And I thought… maybe…" His sentence trails off into something Neptune can't distinguish.

"What's that? I can't hear you."

"I said, I thought maybe then we could read them together, 'cause I can see the pictures and you can read it to me."

For the first time since meeting him, the faunus boy looks shy. Something occurs to Neptune.

"Um, sorry to ask but, can you not read?" He knows he said something wrong before he's even finished the sentence.

"What?" He tosses the comics back into the bag and looks ready to pick the bag up and walk away entirely. "Just because I'm a faunus who doesn't go to school I can't read? Jerk"

"No, I'm sorry. It's just – you listened to me read all those books, why don't you read on your own?"

"Reading is boring." The boy glared, then softened, "but, when you read, it's pretty cool I guess. Fun even."

Neptune smiles, but the other boy doesn't see. He's gone a bit red with embarrassment, and has puffed out his cheeks, determinedly not looking at Neptune at all.

Neptune laughs.

The boy's head whips back at Neptune. He looks ready to tear all the books apart.

"I've always wanted comic books," Neptune says, "but my parents won't let me because they say they're not a good influence. But you got me these just to say thank you? You're amazing."

The boy has realized that Neptune is not laughing at him, and rather at the situation, and his hackles quickly relax and his easy smile is right back.

"So you'll let me read too?"

"Of course. But there's something I need to know first." The boy cocks his head curiously.

"What's your name?"

"Oh," the boy grins again, beaming brighter than Neptune has ever seen anyone smile. He thrusts out his hand and puffs out his chest. "I'm Sun."


End file.
